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Tarte Friends & Family 30% off sale? Step away from the blush and nobody gets hurt!

If you’re a bona-fide Tartlette you understand full well my excitement at the 30% off Friends and Family sale Tarte Cosmetics has going on at their website. And even if you’re not a Tartlette yet, now is a great time to initiate yourself into the cosmetic awesomeness that Tarte. Use the code FFAUG through August 8, 2012.

Here are my recommended picks to haul during the sale.

Amazonian Clay Long-Wearing Blush

Blushaholics can’t truly call themselves one unless they own one of these amazing blushes. Made with Amazonian clay, they are moisturizing to dry skin yet oil-resistant enough to withstand even my OPEC-threatening oily skin. These blushes are very pigmented and you need very little to start with and the coverage is buildable. For those with dark skin, be wary of the very light shades as while the color does build up, fair shades will look ashy on dark skin. My favorite blush colors (and the ones I own) are Frisky, Tipsy, Amused and Flush. I’ve tested these in the hot Florida heat and while there was some fading of the color at about 4 – 5 hours, a quick re-touch with a little product brought it back to life.

Swatches of my beloved Tarte Amazonian Blushes!

Amazonian Clay SPF15 12 Hr Full Coverage Foundation

This foundation is waterproof and is so light on the skin it is a godsend for oily-skinned gals. Unfortunately I returned the color I bought (Deep) as it is made for dark-skinned beauties with yellow undertones, not us red undertoned gals. That aside the foundation performs well, blends effortlessly, is long-wearing and comfortable even on my sensitive acne-prone skin. Hopefully Tarte will make a dark shade with red undertones in the future.

Amazonian Clay emphasEYES Eyeliner

If I didn’t already own an obscene amount of MAC fluidlines and YSL gel eyeliners I would so haul some from Tarte. Made with Amazonian clay, these waterproof eyeliners are softer than MAC’s yet a bit stiffer than YSL’s but come in a very wearable range of five (5) shades. A nice bonus is all shades of Tarte’s waterproof eyeliner come with a brush to line and smudge the product on your lids.

So what are you hauling from the sale? Got anything you’ve just gotta have? Comment and let everyone know!

Guerlain is my favorite luxury cosmetics vendor and their Rouge G lipsticks have hooked me for life. While a new crop of Rouge G lipsticks are slated to debut for Fall 2012, the real stars of this collection are the new Rose Aux Joues blush duos and the Rouge G L’Extrait liquid-to-matte lipstick. For a quick rundown of all the items contained in the Guerlain Fall 2012 collection, please see my article up on TheStyleAndBeautyDoctor.com (yep, I’m contributing over there as well).

Guerlain’s new Blush Duos for Fall 2012 – my fave is Red Hot!

New for Fall 2012 are these gorgeous blush duos from Guerlain. Each shade is paired with a complimentary highlight shade comes with a slanted applicator blush for precision shading, and is packaged in Guerlain’s trademark brass mirrored compact. As with all Guerlain products it has that wonderful violet smell I’ve come to associate with this brand. The shade I purchased, Red Hot, is very complimentary on dark skin and looks like a pairing of NARS Sin with NARS Orgasm.

Slightly elongated applicator for Rouge G L’Extrait

Also new for Fall 2012 and what I have been eagerly awaiting ever since Chanel discontinued their Rouge Allure Lacque, is Guerlain’s Rouge G L’Extrait. This is the celebrated Rouge G in liquid lipstick form that dries down to a flexible matte finish that looks amazing and is beyond comfortable to wear. The packaging is elongated slightly but still carries a hefty weight. That is a small matter compared the color impact and the ability to precisely put this where you want it to go. I picked up M69 (Orgueil) which is a dark plum wine color that screams fall.

For those new to my blog, I have an almost obsessive-compulsion to do a happy dance when NARS releases a new collection. For those who have been reading my blog for quite some time, you’re probably wondering what’s taken me so danged long to post about the NARS Fall 2012 collection. For a quick rundown of all the items, please see my article up on TheStyleAndBeautyDoctor.com (yep, I’m contributing over there as well).

I purchased the items I was most interested in once when were available after me stalking appearing on the site. Rouge Tribal Larger Than Life Lipgloss, High Society eye shadow trip and Outlaw blush were purchased by me and are a most welcome addition to my Fall makeup wardrobe.

I was quite disappointed that for Fall 2012 Francois Nars did not include one of the lovely matte lip pencils I’ve become addicted to. However, the color of this lipgloss is so gorgeous, so flattering to deep skin tones that I couldn’t help but fall in love with Rouge Tribal. With a vampy burgundy tone with metallic shimmer, it shows up very easily on the lips though there will be some settling in lip lines. Personally I can’t wait to wear this lipgloss with Mekong and Night Star eye shadow singles.

NARS Rouge Tribal Larger Than Life Lipgloss for Fall 2012

High Society Eye Shadow Trio

Color me so pleased at this cool-toned trio of shades. NARS’ High Society eye shadow trio consists of three shades: a light frosty lavender, a matte midtone green (a bit lighter than NARS Fuji eye shadow single) and a deep violet purple shimmer shade. I picked up this trio mainly because as I own the Marie Galante eye shadow duo from the NARS Spring 2012 collection, the two should go together quite well.

NARS High Society Eye Shadow Trio for Fall 2012

Outlaw Blush

Color me devastated when I tried to find this color last fall and found out it had been discontinued! Thankfully NARS had pity on blush addicts like me and re-released this gorgeous rose gold shade. It is lighter than Taos with more of a cool undertone. Like with all NARS blushes the translucent pigments made the color easily buildable on dark skin and does not turn ashy.

NARS Outlaw Blush has returned for Fall 2012!

I plan to start testing these items for wear beginning this week and should have a review up within the next few weeks or so. What I can tell you is that while the eye shadow trio is nice, for me the stars of this release are the Rouge Tribal lipgloss and the Outlaw blush. Budget still crunched? NARS blushes are THE thing to have and considering they also make great eye shadow bases, go for it.

The Fall 2012 collection is now available at NARSCosmetics.com and should be appearing on Sephora.com, Nordstrom.com within the next few weeks.